Spark Spot

Deccan Chargers will be looking to get back to wining ways against last year’s runners-up Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. For Super Kings it is just the opposite. They are on a two-match winning streak and will be hoping to make a hat-trick of wins, which was done by Deccan Chargers early on in the league.

This time under a new captain in Adam Gilchrist, Deccan Chargers have forced everyone to stand up and take notice of their performance. Their batting has looked solid with Gilchrist leading the charge. Youngsters like Rohit Sharma and Azhar Bilakhia have also come out with good innings.

The bowlers also have done well, especially fast bowlers Rudra Pratap Singh and Fidel Edwards. Rudra Pratap is the second highest wicket-taker in the IPL while Edwards has checked the run flow. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has been one of the most successful spinner in the second IPL and was chief architect in Chargers’ win over Mumbai Indians.Batting and bowling aside, Deccan Chargers’ fielding has been exceptional. Live wire fielders like Herschelle Gibbs and Sharma have really set the benchmarks on the field.

Not doubt it will be a challenge for the Super Kings to put a challenging total on board. Except Suresh Raina and Subramaniam Badrinath, big names like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel are due for a big score.Their opening pair has been a problem.

While the veteran Matthew Hayden has been in fine nick, he hasn’t got good support from the other end. Parthiv Patel looked out of sorts and his replacement Murali Vijay was a misfit in the Twenty20. The bowlers have come up with good performances. Saturday night little known Shadab Jakat spun Super Kings to a terrific win over Daredevils. Sudip Tyagi and the wily Muttiah Muralitharan have been economical.

So can Chennai make it three in a row by smashing chargers. Lets hope so!